Scientists sending fungi into space in hope of developing drugs

Scientists are sending four strains of fungi to the International Space Station to see what happens when the tiny organisms contend with the stress of microgravity and space radiation.

The work is one of the first to look at the intersection of pharmaceutical science and space exploration, said principal investigator Clay Wang, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Southern California.

Decades ago, scientists discovered that certain species of fungi create molecules called secondary metabolites to help combat stressful situations.

Penicillin’s bacteria-fighting properties were discovered by the Scottish pharmacologist Alexander Fleming in 1928, and the drug is now used throughout the world to fight infectious diseases.